Lay vs laid

[EldridgeinOO]

Hey all,

The lay vs laid thing has been driving me nuts for as long as I can remember. I usually try to write around it, but it's probably time I just figure out how to use it properly.

Can anyone give me an idea of when which of the two is used? The sentence that's currently giving me fits is this one :


Kelsey turned towards me and kissed me softly, putting her hand behind my neck and caressing my hair. I returned her kiss and we lay/laid there quietly, just enjoying each other’s company.


I've changed the lay into laid and vice versa at least half a dozen times now, and they both seem right, and somehow both seem wrong too. Which makes a lot of sense. When you pronounce it it sounds like you should say laid, right?

Help? :|

Thanks in advance

Eldridge

 

[sr71plt]

I can only barely help, because I'm still in the "just try to avoid" it stage. But here's what Harry Shaw's Dictionary of Problem Words and Expressions gives in the way of "help."

Lay means "to place" and is a transitive verb requiring an object. The principal parts of "lay" are lay, laid, laid, laying.

Lie means "to recline" and is an intransitive verb taking no object. The principal parts of "lie" are lie, lay, lain, lying.

 

[Stella_Omega]

So, the past tense of "lie" is "lay" while the past tense of "lay" is "laid"...

I'm adding that to my grammar checklist

 

[Recidiva]

It can help if you remember:

"Chickens LAY eggs. People LIE down."

 

[R. Richard]

It's all explained here:

http://www.literotica.com/stories/showstory.php?id=157479

Instructions: First you read the 'how-to' then you give me a 5 vote!

 

[Leto Degeneres]

...Can anyone give me an idea of when which of the two is used? The sentence that's currently giving me fits is this one :


Kelsey turned towards me and kissed me softly, putting her hand behind my neck and caressing my hair. I returned her kiss and we lay/laid there quietly, just enjoying each other’s company...

Kelsey turned towards me and kissed me softly, putting her hand behind my neck and caressing my hair. I returned her kiss and we laid there quietly, just enjoying each other’s company.

Hey, I have to look it up, too! Damn, did I get it right?

 

[glynndah]

"Reclined" works for me.

 

[Leto Degeneres]

It's all explained here:

http://www.literotica.com/stories/showstory.php?id=157479

Instructions: First you read the 'how-to' then you give me a 5 vote!

Damn, I Googled it! Sorry...

 

[Pure]

Kelsey turned towards me and kissed me softly, putting her hand behind my neck and caressing my hair. I returned her kiss and we lay/laid there quietly, just enjoying each other’s company.

we lay there.

no, idegeneres, you're mistaken. there is clearly no object, so the past tense of lie is 'lay'.

 

[Leto Degeneres]

Kelsey turned towards me and kissed me softly, putting her hand behind my neck and caressing my hair. I returned her kiss and we lay/laid there quietly, just enjoying each other’s company.

we lay there.

no, idegeneres, you're mistaken. there is clearly no object, so the past tense of lie is 'lay'.

See how hard it is! LOL

 

[Handley_Page]

Hey all,

Kelsey turned towards me and kissed me softly, putting her hand behind my neck and caressing my hair. I returned her kiss and we lay/laid there quietly, just enjoying each other’s company.

Eldridge

It seems to me that laid, as in this case, is past tense and thus correct.
Hope I'm right, but it seems logical to me.

 

[kendo1]

Lay is correct in this instance.


Unless they are both chickens.

Try writing it in the present tense first, then change it to the past.

 

[R. Richard]

Damn, I Googled it! Sorry...

Hey, feel free to give me a 5 vote anyhow!

 

[Safe_Bet]

So are you still a "good lay" if you enjoy sex in other positions than being prone???

 

[damppanties]

So are you still a "good lay" if you enjoy sex in other positions than being prone???

Depends. Are you a hen?

 

[Safe_Bet]

Depends. Are you a hen?

I don't have a "pecker" if that's what your asking...

 

[damppanties]

I don't have a "pecker" if that's what your asking...

Nah. More like, do you like cocks?

 

[Dragonlipz]

If you get laid, don't worry about lay

 

[Safe_Bet]

Nah. More like, do you like cocks?

As a matter a fact I do! Rubbed with sage then pan roasted in their own juices with just a touch of lemon and rosemary...

 

[TheeGoatPig]

As a matter a fact I do! Rubbed with sage then pan roasted in their own juices with just a touch of lemon and rosemary...

That's enough of that now!

 

[Vermilion]

It's 'lay' - for no other reason than gut. It just reads better to me


What I want to know is the definitive rules for 'So-and-so and I' vs. 'so-and-so and me' -- I think my junior school teacher screwed me up on this cos she told me one always says 'so-and-so and I', but apparently that's not so -- what are the rules???

 

[Pure]

rules:

pick the right verb:

lay has an object-- i lay the book down today.

porno example: i come into the room. i lay the whip down on the table. i wake up my slave.

lie does not have an object, ever. i lie down for my nap.

porno example:

i say to my slave: remove your clothes. lie down, face up.

pick the right form accoding to tense. the second is past, the third is past participle, for use with auxilliary 'have.'

lay laid laid
lie lay lain.

third form, present perfect:

i have laid down the book.
i have lain down for my nap.

 

[Verdad]

What I want to know is the definitive rules for 'So-and-so and I' vs. 'so-and-so and me' -- I think my junior school teacher screwed me up on this cos she told me one always says 'so-and-so and I', but apparently that's not so -- what are the rules???

It's a subject vs. object thing, no different than other uses of I vs. me, we vs. us, etc.

If examples are of any help, in these sentence the pronoun is the subject:

I think red shoes are lovely.
She and I think red shoes are lovely.
We think red shoes are lovely.

Here, it is the object:

Red shoes are lovely to me.
Red shoes are lovely to her and me.
Red shoes are lovely to us.

Lame sentence, but I hope you get the gist.

 

[Saucy_Sage]

It's 'lay' - for no other reason than gut. It just reads better to me


What I want to know is the definitive rules for 'So-and-so and I' vs. 'so-and-so and me' -- I think my junior school teacher screwed me up on this cos she told me one always says 'so-and-so and I', but apparently that's not so -- what are the rules???

I was taught to figure this out by removing "so and so" and seeing how the sentence worked.

That made sense to Bob and I/me.
That made sense to me.
Me wins!

Bob and I/me went to the store.
I went to the store.
I wins!

All that subject/object stuff with none of the actual knowledge.

 

[Vermilion]

I was taught to figure this out by removing "so and so" and seeing how the sentence worked.

That made sense to Bob and I/me.
That made sense to me.
Me wins!

Bob and I/me went to the store.
I went to the store.
I wins!

All that subject/object stuff with none of the actual knowledge.

That makes sense

I'll try it in a sentence today
x
V